How The Restraint Movement Lost Its Way
The restraint movement's attachment to Trump has compromised its ability to offer a credible alternative to American foreign policy orthodoxy.
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Who's Really Zero-Sum?
As is so often the case with insults hurled at liberals, the charge of zerosumness is one of rightwing projection.
The Modern Far Right Canon
Modern far right thinkers style themselves as an insurgent movement against power, combining a self-pitying victimhood with exaggerated fantasies of rediscovered manliness.
Neon Liberalism #36: Strange Bedfellows
In recent years, a number of prominent right-wingers have moved left dramatically. In particular, a surprising number of libertarians have abandoned their "fusionist" association with the Republican Party, and become more closely affiliated with the progressive movement. How did this happen? What was fusionism and why did it
Half the Answer #23: Far-Right Perspectives on Israel
Trent and Caitlin check in with Maureen Kosse, linguist and researcher of far-right ideologies, about the various strains on the right when it comes to Israel and America’s involvement therewith. They go over the different groups of right-wing Israel supporters, including those opposed to sending military aid to Israel
Reclaiming Our Inheritance
It is time to take back the traditions, institutions, and ideals that lapsed Christians have allowed others to define.
The Editors' Chat #4
We discuss Tesla, the courts as an impediment to Trump, Epstein, and more.
Moyn's Muddle on Ukraine
Moyn makes both historical and moral errors in his analysis, and at times he uncritically adopts Putin’s perspective.
We Need to Talk About Pedocon Theory
The connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is no accident, but reveals a deep logic at the heart of reactionary politics.
Neon Liberalism #35: Tell Me a Story
Join Samantha and author Robert Jackson Bennett as they discuss the power of fiction to shape politics, from 20th-century detective fiction to modern-day QAnon. Along the way they discuss the fiscal-military state, the meaning of liberal society, and why it matters that conservatives have fun engaging with conservative narratives. Neon
The Politics of Humiliation
The politics of humiliation has moved to the center of the reactionary project under Trump II.
What Today’s Reformers Can Learn From the Temperance Movement
Before its more famous 20th century iteration, the temperance movement demonstrated the value of mass persuasion over force as a tool of cultural change.
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Half the Answer #11: Why We Fear AI
Trent and Caitlin speak with cognitive scientist, linguist, and AI researcher Hagen Blix about his book, co-authored with Ingeborg Glimmer, called Why We Fear AI: On the Interpretation of Nightmares. What do those selling AI-branded products have to gain from telling everybody that AI could take over the world? What
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Half the Answer #10: Liberty, Rationality, and Trans Rights
Trent and Caitlin talk with journalist Evan Urquhart about the ways trans rights get discussed in mainstream media, including the notion that supporting trans people’s full participation in society and protecting their right to bodily autonomy represents a viewpoint that is out of touch, too extreme, or endangers the
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Half the Answer #9: Language, Identity, and Anti-Woke Academic Slander
Trent and Caitlin talk with Dr. Aris Clemons, an Assistant Professor in Linguistics, about the various slanders and misapprehensions that plague her field of study. We discuss language ideologies, the illusion of objectivity, the futility of being “apolitical” in a political institution, ethnography and lived experience, “other ways of knowing,
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Half the Answer #8: What Is Personalism?
Trent and Caitlin talk with Adam Gurri, founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal Currents, about his take that the most accurate way to view the Trump presidency is as an example of “personalism.” What is personalism? What are other examples of personalist systems? What can a nation do once a personalist
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Half the Answer #7: What Is Nationalism?
Caitlin and Trent ask Alan Elrod, President and CEO of the Pulaski Institution, about what nationalism is and what kinds of nationalism are at play today. We discuss how white nationalist and Christian nationalist proponents justify it, and how U.S. progressives can participate in a national identity that celebrates
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Half the Answer #6: What Is "Heroic Masculinity?"
Trent and Caitlin ask podcaster and philosopher Toby Buckle about the claim that heroic masculinity will save us. Do all men want to be heroes? Is someone stopping them? Does asking boys and men to be considerate squash their inherent manly essence? The hosts and their expert guest dig into
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Half the Answer #5: The Rationalists and Islamophobia
Caitlin and Trent spoke with Polite Conversations host Eiynah about the ways Islamophobia disguises itself as rational, genuine liberal-minded concern, and the hateful roots that hide beneath. The Rationalists and IslamophobiaPodcast Episode · Half the Answer · 04/02/2025 · 58mApple Podcasts Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple,
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Half the Answer #4: Youths and Technology
Trent and Caitlin ask Clinical Psychologist Dr. Melissa Fisher Paoni about problem technology use among children and teens, how to help them stay safe without crossing the line into over-surveillance or excessive restriction, and why one-size-fits-all policies are often insufficient. Youths and TechnologyPodcast Episode · Half the Answer · 03/26/2025
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Half the Answer #3: At the Library
Centrist pundits, conservative think-tank guys, and far-right propagandists say the movement to target libraries with new laws and book challenges is about making sure patrons have access to all viewpoints and kids aren't exposed to obscene materials. But what does the situation really look like on the ground?
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Half the Answer #2: Campus Misinformation
Caitlin and Trent speak with Bradford Vivian, a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, about campus misinformation. How do op-eds and other polemics use hyperbole, metaphor and innuendo to create a false impression that college campuses are overrun with radical left wing revolutionaries, communist professors, mentally
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Half the Answer #1: The Questions
Caitlin and Trent, a linguist and an historian, introduce Half the Answer, a new podcast from Liberal Currents. The headlines and pundits ask their questions and present their framing of the topics of the day, but are there better questions we could be asking? Caitlin and Trent will interview experts